Top updates: Trump claims Iranian president has sought ceasefire, Tehran calls statement ‘baseless’

United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed that Iran’s “new regime president” has asked the US for a ceasefire.

Posting on social media, Trump described the Iranian president as “much less radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors”. However, he said the US would consider the request only once the Strait of Hormuz is “open, free, and clear”.

It was unclear what Trump meant by “new regime president”, as Masoud Pezeshkian has held the office since July 2024.

Trump warned that until that happens, the US would continue military action against Iran. “We are blasting Iran into oblivion, or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages,” he said.

Here are more top updates from the conflict in West Asia:

• Shortly after Trump’s social media post, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps asserted that the Strait of Hormuz is “firmly and dominantly” under its control and “will not be opened to the enemies of this nation by the ridiculous displays of the US President”, Al Jazeera reported. A spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry said that the US president’s claim about Tehran seeking a ceasefire was false and baseless, according to Reuters.
• Trump had said a day earlier that the US will stop attacking Iran in two or three weeks, and that a deal was not necessary to end the...

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